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Instructors: Prof. Dr. Thomas Hinz
Event type:
Seminar / exercise
Org-unit: Studentische Forschung
Displayed in timetable as:
AdMeth FaktAnalyse
Hours per week:
1,5
Credits:
3,0
Location:
Campus der Zeppelin Universität
Language of instruction:
Englisch
Min. | Max. participants:
5 | 30
Priority scheme: Standard-Priorisierung
Course content:
Survey experiments have come to be a standard tool for investigating people’s attitudes, values, opinions and decisions. In particular, there is an increasing use of methods that integrate multi-factorial experimental set-ups into surveys, like conjoint analyses, choice-experiments, and factorial surveys. The course focuses in particular at factorial surveys in which respondents are asked to rate fictive situations or objects. By systematically varying attributes of the situations or objects, it is possible to determine their influence on attitudes or decisions. In addition, the method helps to find out the amount of social consensus. Do all respondents share similar values or are there differences across social groups like younger or older cohorts, people belonging to political elites or not? Researchers’ controlled experimental variation of stimuli allows a reliable evaluation of the impact of the attributes. What is the more, the method allows an explicit testing of decision processes and theories. As the experiments are embedded in a survey design, it is a relatively simple means of reaching a heterogeneous sample population. The methods’ potential to reduce social desirability bias provides another motivation for using these experiments in research on norms of political action, democratic values, or the likelihood of compliance with social norms.
Educational objective:
The course gives a theoretical and practical overview on experimental survey methods (conjoint analysis, choice experiments, and in particular factorial surveys). Participants will learn and discuss the features, typical applications, advantages, and shortcomings of different methods, with a special focus on the measurement of social norms and values. Key element of the course will be the development of an own small survey experiment (factorial survey): Students will get practical insights into all single steps that are needed to design survey experiments, starting with the specification of the assumed decision rule, going on with the specification of attributes, selection of an experimental design, draft of questionnaire up to analysis of data from a small pilot-study. Based on this experience, at the end of the course all participants should be able to start own work with experimental survey methods and to assess the strength and limitations of different experimental designs.
Further information about the exams:
Research Proposal. Abgabe bis zum 30.11.2018
Mandatory literature:
Auspurg, Katrin/Hinz, Thomas (2015) Factorial Survey Experiments. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Jordan Louviere (2008) Analyzing Decision Making. Metric Conjoint Analyses. Newbury Park: Sage.
Wallander, Lisa (2009) 25 Years of Factorial Surveys in Sociology: A Review. Social Science Research (38):505-520.
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